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Step on toes

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Step on toes means to offend or upset someone unintentionally, often by overstepping boundaries; in social poetry, it explores interpersonal friction, etiquette, and the delicate navigation of relationships.

Detailed Definition
Step on toes means to offend, intrude, or interfere with someone’s role, pride, territory, or authority. In poetry, the idiom makes social tact bodily: one person’s movement causes another’s pain. It can appear in workplace, family, artistic, political, or romantic contexts where boundaries are sensitive. A poet may use it to show caution, awkwardness, ambition, or rivalry. The phrase is useful for exploring how people negotiate space, hierarchy, and ego without always naming the conflict directly.
Example
Example in poetry:
A workplace satire might show the new clerk stepping on toes by changing every custom; In a family poem, one honest question steps on toes at the dinner table; The phrase means to offend people by interfering or overstepping; A poet can use it for social tension.
Additional Notes
Step on toes means offend, upset, or interfere with someone, often unintentionally, by intruding on territory, pride, or responsibility. The idiom draws on social dancing and bodily closeness. In poetry, it can show awkwardness, hierarchy, workplace politics, family tensions, or delicate manners. Students should ask whose toes are protected and why. It pairs well with dances, shoes, floors, boundaries, and the painful smallness of social offence.
Also Known As
offend
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